Inside Iowa State
Jan. 23, 1998
P&S Council
Reps discuss comp time
by Anne Dolan
Comp time for P&S employees and access to P&S benefits for university contract employees were discussion items at the Jan. 8 Professional and Scientific Council meeting.
Last month, P&S employees in an unnamed unit complained to the P&S executive committee that they were asked to work weekend and holiday shifts on a permanent basis.
In response to that complaint, council president Rob Bowers was invited to speak at an ISU Academic Council meeting. Bowers said he asked that supervisors be fair managers -- of resources and people. He asked that managers remember who has worked holiday or weekend shifts when they assign subsequent work shifts. He also said PIQs should note when positions require weekend or holiday hours.
While ISU has no formal comp time policy, many units allow comp time for P&S staff who periodically have to work overtime hours to meet deadlines, he said.
"P&S staff are hired to do a job, not work the clock," Bowers said.
He said another message delivered to the Academic Council is that the lack of a policy gives managers the authority to make decisions regarding comp time.
Other council members noted that office problems with comp time lie usually not with supervisors, but with co-workers from the merit classification who resent it when P&S employees take comp time.
K-base
Contracted, K-base employees showed up on P&S rosters (but designated as K-base) sometime between December 1996 and March 1997. Of 55 K-base employees, 48 are in external affairs and most of those are coaches in the athletic department. The question of whether K-base employees are guided by P&S personnel policies arose this fall when a K- base employee inquired about applying for a P&S tuition grant. That led to other issues, such as K-base employees' voting privileges in P&S elections or their right to seek a council spot.
According to an athletic department document on K-base appointments, "other than conditions specified in the individual's contract, personnel policies governing exempt P&S employees will be applied."
Associate provost Ed Lewis said he believes K- and P-base employees are separate groups and P&S benefits don't have to be extended to non-P&S groups. But Lewis also noted that tuition grants are a competitive program, not a "benefit."
Lewis; Carla Espinoza, assistant vice president for human resource services; and the P&S executive council all will study the issue before the next meeting.
In other business:
- Lauri Dusselier, coordinator of Iowa State's first
employee wellness program, was introduced. Dusselier, who
temporarily is located in Beardshear, hopes to move into a
Beyer Hall office within a month. Employees who want to
suggest ideas for the wellness program should contact her at
4-3240, e-mail: ldussel@iastate.edu.
- Bowers announced that the council will partner with the
ISU training and development office for a professional
development day in May. The workshop, which will be open to
all ISU employees, will focus on leadership, ethics and power
as they relate to decision-making.
- Feb. 9 (5 p.m.) is the deadline for submitting council
representative nominations for the March election. Ten spots
need to be filled: three in Academic & Research, one in
IPRT/Ames Lab, and two each in Business and Finance,
Extension and External Affairs. Nomination forms were mailed
last week to all P&S employees; they should be returned to
Jim Lux, 1025 Agronomy.
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